A much-loved police worker died due to an elderly driver’s ‘momentary inattention’ in a tragic accident that could have happened to anyone, a top judge was told today.

Paul Collins, 62, was riding his motorbike home from Stratford-upon-Avon police station when pensioner, Anthony Brooker, turned his Range Rover right across his path, giving him no chance to stop. The motorcyclist died almost instantly in the collision.

In October last year, Brooker, 75, of Springfield Farm, Stratford Road, Ettington, admitted causing the family man’s death by careless driving and was given a community order and ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid work.

Brooker was also handed a two-year driving ban and ordered to retake his driving test before being allowed back on the road. However, he is now bidding to convince London’s Appeal Court he should be allowed back on the road earlier.

His barrister, Ian Bridge, said the pensioner had been turning into his driveway as he had done hundreds of times before when disaster struck just before Christmas in 2011. It was “a case of momentary inattention” and Brooker’s crime was “at the lowest end” of seriousness.

Mr Bridge added: “As with so many motorists, he simply cannot understand how he missed seeing the motorcyclist. He looked, but did not see.

“It was a mistake that any individual could have made on any day of the week while driving. This is a type of offence that anyone - there but for the grace of God - could commit.”

Brooker had admitted his guilt, felt deep remorse and was so “desperately upset” by Mr Collins’ death that he was later diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

Living in a rural area with no other means of transport, Brooker desperately needs his licence, said Mr Bridge. The pensioner also holds a private pilot’s licence and there was no question of him being unable to drive safely, the barrister added.

The length of the driving ban and the requirement to retake his test were “manifestly excessive”, he told Mr Justice Haddon-Cave.

The judge has now reserved his decision on whether to grant Brooker permission to appeal and will give his ruling at a later date.